The role of a critic today 

By: Lydia Klopfenstein

It’s not about pursuing people to agree with you, it’s about providing an honest critique of the experience. And if you’re going to post an unpopular opinion about something, you better have evidence to back it up. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with disagreeing with the general population. I do so quite often. It’s about getting people to see what you saw, or feel what you felt. They don’t have to agree with you, but our role as critics is to get them to understand our point of view. 

We must also keep an eye out for anything offensive or immoral. As critics, it’s our job to expose wrongdoing to the public. Because a lot of people will look right past it, or turn the other way. We have to help our audiences visualize and contextualize all of the -isms that exist in entertainment, restaurants, and products. It’s our job to start that conversation. 

It’s also important for critics to engage with their audiences and find out what they like, or hate, about certain movies, books, artists, cuisine, etc. But once again, we don’t have to agree with everyone else, just as long as we recognize where their opinions stem from and why. 

As a critic, it’s our job to keep up with new trends while bringing our own generational flare. For example, you can’t review a popular teen movie without understanding the audience first. Just like you can’t go to a seafood restaurant as a food critic if you despise the taste of fish, at least not without a disclaimer. A critic must be open to learning and experiencing new things. We don’t have to enjoy it every time, but we do have to embrace it as professionals. 

Sarah Freund

Being a critic is so much more than simply having an opinion.

It is that, yes. Having an opinion about a book, a movie, a song — you name it — is the backbone of what a review should be. 

But equally as important to a critic understanding their opinion of a given thing is their ability to submit that opinion to expertise, knowledge and relativity — weighing their experience in the balance of those entities to ensure that what they release to the public eye is fair, while still employing the heart of what they perceived. 

Critiquing is an odd task in that it allows for the critic to employ their own experience while bearing the responsibility of realizing that’s not all there is. 

I don’t particularly care for seafood, but if I bear a responsibility to understand that seafood is a delicacy to some people, so my disliking a meal simply because it tastes fishy isn’t a fair assessment. I have to understand that this is a genre of food; I fall into the category of not preferring it, but I need to review it with an open mind and with a coherence regarding “seafood culture,” if you will.

A critic must also be observant. There is so much more to an experience than that one thing (the movie, the song, the food, etc). There are the surroundings, the other partakers, the events that shape the before and after; all of it matters and falls under the umbrella of the experience as a whole; that matters too. 

Finally, you as a critic must be yourself. Understanding your individual voice and writing in it is one of the most valuable things a critic can do. The world needs you to be yourself, and that includes the way one critiques.

The Role of a Critic

Brie Wolfe

I believe in a world that produces so much noise there is infinite content created for us to consume as we do every day without realizing it. Within that consumption, we immediately draw opinions based on our experiences. And no two people alike have identical experiences.

The role of a critic is not confined to one of a professional, as I believe everyone is a critic. I myself, am a critic. Whoever is reading this now, you too are a critic. Each person has the ability to determine what aspects of anything they experience as enjoyable, puzzling, downright horrific, or each and every reaction that falls in between. But the role of a good critic is recognizing the responsibility of using your voice, your opinions, your influence, and sharing experiences to the public in the most truthful light possible. I think that transparency is so necessary for critics, allowing your honest experience to be shared without the pressures of being reprimanded or disagreed with. Who cares if no one else agrees, it’s your opinion and no one can take away from that.

Criticism in a way is an expression of creative indiviuality. It’s a field where you’re allowed to ignore the general public opinion on a book, movie, piece of art, song, restaurant, etc., and write from your gut- something we’re often deterred from doing through our years of school. I think it’s beautiful how reviews can open up a discussion for controversy or conversation. 

The role of a critic is to always allow yourself to observe, to take notes, and authentically write about the last book you read and tell how it made you quake with anger or that meal at that restaurant that looked sketchy but was to die for in the end. I, as an amateur critic within this class, have learned to open myself up to new experiences and give more things more chances. But, most of all helped me find my voice as both a writer and every day critiquer.

What’s It Mean To Be A Critic?

Anna Erickson

Being a critic calls us to more.

To most people, a critic is someone who shares their opinion so that others can make an informed decision based on that opinion. Which, in a sense is true. But that is not the role of a critic in its entirety. Five months of critically reviewing products, musicians, movies, food and books has possibly taught me more about myself than it has about the thing I’ve been reviewing. The thing is, when we review something, we’re required to be our raw, vulnerable selves, and tell everyone that we hate seafood or never really liked country music (I love country music, by the way). 

The real value, I believe, comes from who we are and the things that we’ve experienced. Even more so, the beauty of a critic comes from the daringness to be truthful in where we are currently at in life, and what has brought us here, and how that makes us feel. There are so many different experiences out there, and there are so many different people out there, and that’s what makes critiquing so fun. 

It’s kind of thrilling knowing that there is someone out there who will inevitably disagree with you, but at the same time, that’s okay. It’s a unique thing to be able to step out into boldness and say “this is what I believe, and I’m sticking to it.” But to also find joy in the fact that there is someone else out there with a completely different worldview, experience or perception than mine, and their critique added to the mix is what being a critic is all about.

I’m super thankful for all the people that have gone before me and watched crappy movies or ate crappy food I don’t have to. And I’m also thankful for the people who disagree with me, speak up, and share their opinions. Being a critic calls us to more, because there’s always more out there. More experiences, and more opinions, and more diversity. I’m all for that, and I’m lucky to have a voice of my own. 

Here’s to challenging ourselves to always seek more.